The world’s largest phosphate company, Mosaic Co., lost its bid Wednesday night to open a new mine on 18,000 acres of land near one of the state’s most pristine creeks.

After hearing impassioned testimony from hundreds of people over the course of two days, the DeSoto County Commission voted 4-1 Wednesday to reject Mosaic’s request to change the zoning on its property from agricultural to mining.

This is a link to an April 9,2018 NPR News report by Dan Charles on the growing movement in “regenerative agriculture” including cover crops and no-till land management. There have to be solutions for sustainable farming. Strip mining for phosphate fertilizers is not a sustainable way to build soil health. Fresh approaches like this are the answer.

Several 3PR members attended the Board of County Commission meeting and had important comments to make under oath to the Commissioners. Link is to the Herald Advocate newspaper report about the meeting.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An agribusiness company that turned phosphate into fertilizer must pay $1.5 million in permit fees annually to eastern Idaho tribes to store millions of tons of toxic waste on tribal lands, a federal court has ruled.